For a long time I’ve had this weird fascination with farming . The thought of being able to turn your home into a business, work for yourself, and your product also is food for your family, is a complete win-win for me. In fact a goal of mine is to either own or partially own a farm one day.
Being from the inner-city, I admittedly have no clue about farming, nor an idea into the business model. So over the last couple of months I’ve been building my knowledge base.
Between podcasts, talking with different people, and reading every thing I could get access to, I now have a better (basic) understanding for farm land investing (or at least how to). Although, I think I’d rather be on the investor side and not the owner-operator side (see below).
Here are some the resources I started with:
- Animal Spirits Podcast: The Case for Investing in Farmland
- Acretrader
- FarmTogether White Paper
- Investing in Farmland: A Real Estate Investor’s Guide
Prior to my research, I had no clue that farm investing has produced an approximate 11% annual return over the last 20 years with low volatility and correlation with the stock market.
That is insane. There are also tax benefits that I had no clue about. So far, farm land and farm investing sounds like a great asset (on the surface) to have in a portfolio.
Recently in my research journey I also stumbled across Jeremy Clarkson’s, new show on Amazon Prime Video, Clarkson’s Farm.
I had no clue who Mr. Clarkson was when I started watching the show but I needed a new show to watch and I could count this as “research”. I figured I knock out two birds with one stone.
After 8 hilarious episodes I have concluded that farm ownership isn’t for me, but Mr. Clarkson somehow managed to make money while experiencing a great adventure filled with ridiculous mishaps.
As an investor, I want ownership, equity, and passive income. Farm land operating is not passive and is a large business endeavor. So operating a farm isn’t for me. Watching Mr. Clarkson get stung by bees, use farm equipment hilariously dangerous ways, and clearly sink a lot of money into this effort, gave me a great laugh, but I’d rather be the investor and leave the operating of the farm to the professionals.
As always if you have questions or concerns regarding creating an emergency fund, investing, real estate, insurance, or planning for the future, don’t be afraid to speak with qualified financial advisor. Smart Asset has a great tool to find an advisor in your area or feel free to email me (contact@surgifi.com) to help you on your path to financial independence.
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